Last week 7,000 dead seals washed up on a beach in Namibia. The reason remains unknown. Ocean Conservation Namibia, an NGO, suggests starvation. Other possible causes such as toxins or disease, however, have yet to be ruled out.
Such news stories evoke sadness, even anger, in many of us. Like when I read that certain species of butterflies, those that were superabundant during my childhood, are now increasingly rare.
Butterfly biodiversity is a useful indicator of the overall ecological health of a nation – beauty is noticeable by its absence. Each year, since 2010, the UK has held the ‘Big Butterfly Count’.
For several weeks during the summer, the public is encouraged to download an app and report the number and type of butterflies they spot.
Despite record numbers of participants – over a hundred thousand this year – the 2020 results are the worst on record, with the lowest average number of butterflies logged since the event began.
The same is true for the lakes and rivers of my childhood. The European eel, Anguilla Anguilla, once plentiful, is now listed as critically endangered on the global red list of threatened species.
Historian Dr John Wyatt Greenlee documents that eels were once so abundant in England that they were used as a form of payment. For example, in 1086 the English paid more than 500,000 eels in taxes to landlords.
Times have changed, and so have our riverscapes, landscapes and oceans.
This sense of dysphoria or unease that we might feel as a result of such environmental changes now has a name.
The environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht calls it solastalgia. Distinct from nostalgia, which is a longing for times and places past, solastalgia is the pain we feel when we experience our homes, our places of solace are destroyed or degraded.
Our sense of identity and well-being are tightly bound with the health of our ecosystems. The well-being of people is connected to the well-being of the land and the water.
Our sense of identity and well-being are tightly bound with the health of our ecosystems
Beyond a philosophical idea, solastalgia can also be viewed as a psychiatric concept. Distress about the environment can mutate into more severe problems such as depression, anxiety or substance-use disorders.
Sick landscapes, polluted rivers and deforestation do little to promote mental health; they may well do the opposite.
Similarly, our shrinking ecological biodiversity only heightens our sense of species loneliness – feelings of sadness and isolation rooted in our estrangement from and by the disappearance of other species.
When we read or watch news clips about the dead seals washed up on beaches, is that what we feel? When we read about Okjokull, the first Icelandic glacier to be officially declared dead (that is, lose its glacier status), do we start to feel solastalgic?
And when we hear that the recent Australian bush fires killed a third of all the koalas in New South Wales, does a wave of solastalgia wash over us?
If we view the whole of earth as our home, the destruction of cultural and biological diversity can be personally distressing, however geographically distant from us these events take place.
Is it possible that ecocide and the associated loss of species and habitat have at least in part something to do with the global rise in mental health problems? If the birds in our neighbourhoods stopped singing, how long would it take for us to realise birdsong was missing?
Some of us, busy with our own concerns, may not notice for a long time. We might though still experience a negative mood shift without knowing why.
I typically go back to the UK each summer. On recent visits, I have not seen a single butterfly, ladybird or even bumblebee. I grew up among these creatures.
In my old inner city stomping grounds they were once so plentiful as to be annoying. I would even see the occasional owl and fox. Now, however, it is all humans and dogs, seagulls and pigeons.
This past weekend, my social media timeline was filled with pictures of a juvenile whale shark majestically navigating the shallow waters around Abu Dhabi’s Aldar headquarters.
The awe, excitement and joy that many of us feel on witnessing such rare and endangered creatures is a perfect counterpoint to solastalgia.
Reconnection with our natural environment and its inhabitants is fundamental to our well-being. Solastalgia, like all emotions, moves us. And if it can shift us to take restorative action and in the direction of conservation efforts, then it has done its job.
Justin Thomas is a professor of psychology at Zayed University and a columnist for The National
Fixtures
50-over match
UAE v Lancashire, starts at 10am
Champion County match
MCC v Surrey, four-day match, starting on Sunday, March 24, play starts at 10am
Both matches are at ICC Academy, Dubai Sports City. Admission is free.
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
Sleep Well Beast
The National
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GAC GS8 Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 502hp at 7,600rpm
Torque: 637Nm at 5,150rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto
Price: from Dh317,671
On sale: now
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It’ll be summer in the city as car show tries to move with the times
If 2008 was the year that rocked Detroit, 2019 will be when Motor City gives its annual car extravaganza a revamp that aims to move with the times.
A major change is that this week's North American International Auto Show will be the last to be held in January, after which the event will switch to June.
The new date, organisers said, will allow exhibitors to move vehicles and activities outside the Cobo Center's halls and into other city venues, unencumbered by cold January weather, exemplified this week by snow and ice.
In a market in which trends can easily be outpaced beyond one event, the need to do so was probably exacerbated by the decision of Germany's big three carmakers – BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi – to skip the auto show this year.
The show has long allowed car enthusiasts to sit behind the wheel of the latest models at the start of the calendar year but a more fluid car market in an online world has made sales less seasonal.
Similarly, everyday technology seems to be catching up on those whose job it is to get behind microphones and try and tempt the visiting public into making a purchase.
Although sparkly announcers clasp iPads and outline the technical gadgetry hidden beneath bonnets, people's obsession with their own smartphones often appeared to offer a more tempting distraction.
“It's maddening,” said one such worker at Nissan's stand.
The absence of some pizzazz, as well as top marques, was also noted by patrons.
“It looks like there are a few less cars this year,” one annual attendee said of this year's exhibitors.
“I can't help but think it's easier to stay at home than to brave the snow and come here.”
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
WOMAN AND CHILD
Director: Saeed Roustaee
Starring: Parinaz Izadyar, Payman Maadi
Rating: 4/5
SERIES SCHEDULE
First Test, Galle International Stadium
July 26-30
Second Test, Sinhalese Sports Club Ground
August 3-7
Third Test, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 12-16
First ODI, Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium
August 20
Second ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 24
Third ODI, Pallekele International Cricket Stadium
August 27
Fourth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
August 31
Fifth ODI, R Premadasa Stadium
September 3
T20, R Premadasa Stadium
September 6
Naga
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Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
